Don't Look Up (2021)

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"John Oliver's Melancholia", as a review on Letterboxd had it: a bitter, obvious satire about the end of the world, but one with more than a little mournful affection for its characters' journey through the stages of grief. Astronomers Randall Mindy (Leo) and Kate Dibiasky (JLaw) discover a meteorite on a collision course for Earth... but Trump-analogue President Orlean (Meryl Streep) doesn't want to hear it, the public is ready to believe it's fake news, and technocrat Peter Isherwell (Mark Rylance) has other plans.

Some have attacked Adam McKay for not being funny enough, but I loved the catharsis on offer. The obvious target is climate change, but after two years of COVID-19 it feels more like an elegy than a call to arms. It's not funny because it's so terrifyingly real -- though occasionally it is incredibly funny too, especially Jonah Hill. Great script, great performances, and I loved the polarizing, in-your-face editing. One of the best movies of the year.

- Sam - 2021-12-29 05:54:46